Insanity- why am I not losing weight? instead, put on weight

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  • Juliebean_1027
    Juliebean_1027 Posts: 713 Member
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    The scale is the devil and a liar. Take measurements. If you are tracking your calories and workouts right stop worry about your weight. I gained 5 pounds after 30 days but my pants fit better.

    ^^^ This. The scale does lie. Ignore it. Throw it out. Hide it in another room of the house. Buy a tape measure and only listen to that. It will become your new best friend, I promise.
  • HisChild2011
    HisChild2011 Posts: 145 Member
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    I feel you! I'm on week three and about to be done with it! It hurts my knee and I really don't like it. While I did P90X I consistently lost the 1 pound per week or more. I didn't lose a single pound for my weigh in this morning! Shaun T is nice eye candy, but I don't think his workout is for me and my body.
  • karenwill2
    karenwill2 Posts: 604 Member
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    Water is your solution.
  • jdupla5
    jdupla5 Posts: 7
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    Just keep at It. I have about 8 workouts till the completion of insanity. I've actually gained 2 lbs but lost several inches and have more muscle definition than i've had in a while. Don't worry about weight, Insanity will give you results. Just keep "Digging Deeper" :)
  • JBeansie
    JBeansie Posts: 33
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    The scale is the devil and a liar. Take measurements. If you are tracking your calories and workouts right stop worry about your weight. I gained 5 pounds after 30 days but my pants fit better.

    I totally agree with this. I've been lifting weights and trying a modified paleo diet while training for a marathon. At first, only doing cardio, I lost weight. That ended when I started Crossfit again. The scale went up 5 pounds in the last month, but my waist, hips, and thighs are the incredible shrinking body parts. I'm down one size and into the single digits again. I have to hike my pants up at work.

    To the OP - the scale is not your friend. You are building muscle. I know it goes against everything we are told to expect, but workouts like P90X, Insanity, and Crossfit first build muscle which helps to burn fat. Don't let your workouts or self-worth be determined by a number on a scale.
  • Sarahbara76
    Sarahbara76 Posts: 601 Member
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    Well then... I guess its up to me to be the bad guy, since all of you are giving her the "Kudos, its just water, your building muscle" kind of answers.

    Simply this: If you are not tracking your intake, you have NO IDEA how much you are eating. Your body is stressed from the workouts, and probably making you feel hungrier to recover burned calories. Without a doubt, you are eating more calories than you are burning, which will ALWAYS translate to a gain. While a small part of your gain could be due to water retainment, I would bet money its actually too much calorie intake. And like another poster said... just because you could eat a certain way in your teens and early 20s, does not mean you still can.

    Want results? Track your intake.

    I am not trying to offend. I'm just stating the almost certain reason you are gaining.

    ^^^^ completely 100% right.. I did P90X and Slim in 6 for 2 years and never lost more then 5 pounds back and forth until I combined them with logging my food intake on here. I found out I was not eating enough protein very quickly and changed that , now I stay around 135-136 pounds !! That's a lot better then gaining weight when your workout is kicking your *kitten*! I was working out 5 times a week and weighed 148!!!
  • JamesBurkes
    JamesBurkes Posts: 382 Member
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    They've all been mentioned.

    1) Water weight - Insanity is tough and you're doing a lot of (good) muscle damage. They're undoubtedly holding on to water to help repair them.

    2) Muscle - even an experienced exerciser can put on a lot of muscle with a new programme. I put an inch on my calves in 4 weeks doing Insanity, up to 18".

    3) Food intake - as tough as they are, the calorie burn in Insanity isn't THAT amazing, at least in the first month. At 200 lbs I usually only burn 450 cals or so per workout. (I burn a lot more in the Max workouts). It's easy to feel pooped and overeat that number of calories because you feel you've deserved it.

    Probably best to forget the scales for the time being and focus on your measurements, your improvements in doing the workouts, and your food intake.
  • andreea82
    andreea82 Posts: 5
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    Thank you all for your useful replies and advice.
    To sum al up:
    1. The major problem would be water. Yeah, I think I do not drink enough water, so I will work on that.

    2. The calorie intake is still controversial to me: some of you say I eat too much, without knowing

    “Simply this: If you are not tracking your intake, you have NO IDEA how much you are eating. Your body is stressed from the workouts, and probably making you feel hungrier to recover burned calories. Without a doubt, you are eating more calories than you are burning, which will ALWAYS translate to a gain”

    And some
    “it's possible that you should be eating more. it's possible that your body is burning quite a bit more than it was used to, yet you never gave it more fuel”

    Well, I know that most of you advised me to keep a track of how much I am eating, but it’s just not me. So far, I’ve survived without counting my calories. I just don’t like the idea of calculating everything, I guess this makes me think about all those girls obsessed with their weight, if you know what I mean.
    Let me give you an example: in summer, I used to eat much more and do a 40-min aquagym session in the morning and an 1-hour step-aerobic. So, it was less challenging than Insanity is and I used to eat much more and my body was lighter and thinner (so less kg and also less centimeters)!!!?!?!

    3. I will put away the scale, at least until I finish Insanity. However, hopefully, I will notice a difference in inches, as for now there isn’t any, my whole body seems to be bloating/ swelling, instead of shrinking…
  • jimmytres
    jimmytres Posts: 1
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    Hey I've been doing Insanity for almost 60 days im on the last two weeks already its a great workout, but I too am having a problem with the scale it is not my friend at the moment. Im waiting to leave for the navy and as such I required to weigh a certain amount since Insanity though I've actually gained weight. Right now im at 185.4 which is 4 lbs. over my max weight. I need to lose this weight I like the inches but I need the weight loss. Any tips would be great thanks; and hope to hear back
  • tryinghard71
    tryinghard71 Posts: 593
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    Thank you all for your useful replies and advice.
    To sum al up:
    1. The major problem would be water. Yeah, I think I do not drink enough water, so I will work on that.

    2. The calorie intake is still controversial to me: some of you say I eat too much, without knowing

    “Simply this: If you are not tracking your intake, you have NO IDEA how much you are eating. Your body is stressed from the workouts, and probably making you feel hungrier to recover burned calories. Without a doubt, you are eating more calories than you are burning, which will ALWAYS translate to a gain”

    And some
    “it's possible that you should be eating more. it's possible that your body is burning quite a bit more than it was used to, yet you never gave it more fuel”

    Well, I know that most of you advised me to keep a track of how much I am eating, but it’s just not me. So far, I’ve survived without counting my calories. I just don’t like the idea of calculating everything, I guess this makes me think about all those girls obsessed with their weight, if you know what I mean.
    Let me give you an example: in summer, I used to eat much more and do a 40-min aquagym session in the morning and an 1-hour step-aerobic. So, it was less challenging than Insanity is and I used to eat much more and my body was lighter and thinner (so less kg and also less centimeters)!!!?!?!

    3. I will put away the scale, at least until I finish Insanity. However, hopefully, I will notice a difference in inches, as for now there isn’t any, my whole body seems to be bloating/ swelling, instead of shrinking…

    I thought MFP was all about tracking and eating healthy? I also have slim in 6, P90X and Turbo Fire. All intense workouts. Every single one of them will tell you that it is not just about exercise but a healthy diet. Even Beach Body sets calorie goals on Their website. If it was just about working out then why do all the programs suggest a calorie intake to be tracked?

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